1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus used for visually observing or checking a negative/positive film or the like of a silver chloride camera.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, as for this type of apparatus, it was a common practice to set a light box prepared by covering a fluorescent lamp by a semiopaque glass plate under a film, and to observe an image using a magnifier for magnifying an image. However, upon observation of, especially, a negative film using such apparatus, only a person who is accustomed to such operation of observing a negative image, i.e., only a skilled person, could identify persons on the film.
The present inventor has proposed and filed a look-in type viewer before the present application. However, the invention had the following problems that remain unsolved. That is, as a memory system or display using an SLM (Spatial Light Modulation) element like in the application, Japanese Patent Application No. 08-003935 or the like is known. In a system described in this invention, writing or reading light was split into three color light components using, e.g., a dichroic mirror, and the split color light components are recorded, or the light is split into three color light components time-serially and the three color light components are caused to flicker at a speed that cannot be sensed by the eyes of a human being, thereby writing/reading data to display an image.
However, especially, the conventional display has the following problems to be solved. In order to time-serially turn on three color light components, i.e., to sequentially turn on three color light components at about 60 Hz, a light source which can flicker at a speed of about 200 Hz for the ON cycles of the individual color components is required. As a light source which can attain such high-speed flickering and has durability, only LEDs are available. However, since an LED has a limited luminance as a light source, it is applicable only to a look-in type product like a finder of a camera described in the above prior art. Such product is unsatisfactory as a negative/positive viewer (of course, many users want to appreciate an image like an electronic album or to observe an image magnified using an optical system).